Chapter 256: Mug Bean Soup, Fair as Jade

In the world Su Zhi found herself in, it was a dynasty that didn’t exist in the history she knew from her past life. It resembled the Song Dynasty she imagined, yet it lacked many civilizations that should have preceded the Song Dynasty. Instead, there were people and things she had never encountered in her previous knowledge of five thousand years of history. However, these differences never posed a problem for Su Zhi. On the contrary, her wealth of knowledge from another life made her life here even more colorful and comfortable.

Here, they had abacuses but not addition and subtraction as she knew it. If one were to step away from the abacus, simple calculations were easy, but larger numbers posed a challenge. Therefore, the abacus was highly valued. Ordinary households didn’t necessarily use abacuses; they counted slowly.

She taught the children arithmetic not because she foresaw the inconvenience of not having an abacus, but because in her previous life, children learned to read and count. Since they already memorized poems, Su Zhi didn’t want to neglect arithmetic.

Shen Zi’an was quite amazed by the ten Arabic numerals and the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division methods Su Zhi described. His astonishment made Su Zhi realize that such methods didn’t exist in this world yet. However, with Shen Zi’an’s curiosity piqued, he simply followed along in learning these new mathematical techniques without further comment.

Su Zhi never aspired to become a renowned figure. Even though she knew she possessed many things that could make her famous—such as poetry, songs, and now arithmetic methods—she had no intention of seeking fame. Her goal was simply to earn money, live a peaceful life with her husband and children, and enjoy being a comfortable housewife who counted money every day. Let others chase after fame as great literary figures!

Moreover, Su Zhi never felt the need to hide what she knew. There was no danger of being arrested for it, and sharing knowledge wouldn’t harm anyone. If someone discovered her abilities, she didn’t mind explaining them casually and without stress, just as she did with Shen Zi’an.

Su Zhi was very natural and relaxed. However, Shen Ziju felt as though he had discovered something incredible.

“Fourth Sister-in-law, are you saying you can add and subtract any numbers, no matter how large?”

Shen Ziju himself was an extremely intelligent person. He could mentally calculate numbers, even adding hundreds to hundreds. However, if the numbers grew larger, he would sometimes make mistakes, even if he could eventually figure it out. For the average person, they would definitely get it wrong. Now, Su Zhi was saying she had a way to easily calculate it with a pen. He was really eager to know what method this was. After seeing these poems, he felt there must be even greater surprises ahead.

Seeing Shen Ziju, Su Zhi thought he was really interested in this, so she didn’t mind telling him. Spreading knowledge was also a good thing.

“Of course, any number can be calculated.”

Xinger said, “Little Uncle, we can already calculate numbers up to a hundred!”

Yueyue nodded from the side. Although she still made mistakes sometimes, she could also do the calculations!

Xiaori was more steady, but he also nodded from the side. He loved learning the things his mother taught. From his parents’ words, he understood that this method of arithmetic was something only his mother knew, and no one else did. He thought his mother was the smartest person. Now that Shen Ziju had a bit of doubt about Su Zhi’s ideas, he wanted to prove it for his mother.

Shen Ziju said, “Fourth Sister-in-law, can you show me how that arithmetic is done? I am very curious and think it must be very interesting.”

Su Zhi said to Xinger, “Xinger, add ninety-eight and nineteen on the sand table. Show your Little Uncle how it’s done.”

Xinger nodded, wiped the characters off the sand table, and then took a bamboo stick to write the numbers and calculate. In just two or three strokes, he had the result.

“Mother, it’s one hundred and seventeen.”

Shen Ziju watched the curved lines Xinger drew on the sand table. He thought, this isn’t writing, nor is it drawing. It looks more like some kind of symbols. Can these things really be used to calculate numbers?

Su Zhi then said to Xiaori, “Xiaori, you calculate one too. How about seventy-six minus eighteen?”

Xiaori responded and began to calculate in the sand table as well. He was just as quick, and after his hand stopped, the result was out. He said, “Mother, it’s fifty-eight.”

This time, Shen Ziju truly believed it. These strange symbols could replace an abacus and allow numbers to be added and subtracted with just paper and pen. It was indeed amazing.

“Fourth Sister-in-law, what are these curved lines? Do they represent the characters for one, two, three, four, and so on? Can you teach me? I find this to be a very interesting subject.”

Shen Ziju looked at Su Zhi with an expression full of curiosity and eagerness to learn. He genuinely wanted to learn this method.

Su Zhi said, “If Fifth Brother is willing to learn, of course you can.”

“Thank you, Fourth Sister-in-law!”

Upon hearing that Su Zhi was willing to teach him, Shen Ziju’s face lit up with a smile. He gave Su Zhi a grand bow, almost touching the ground, which was a gesture of great respect.

“Fifth Brother, what are you doing? Why are you giving such a big bow to your sister-in-law?”

Shen Zi’an’s voice rang out. He had just returned from the bamboo grove where he had been cutting bamboo. The family had planted some vegetables, and he needed to build frames for them, so he had been busy there today. He heard from Uncle Lan that his Fifth Brother had come, so he returned. Since he had been working, he was wearing a coarse cloth garment that was already somewhat worn, with the sleeves rolled up and two bamboo leaves stuck in his hair.

Shen Ziju looked at Shen Zi’an, taking in his appearance, then looked at Su Zhi. Although he felt that they seemed to be of similar age, he still thought Fourth Sister-in-law could have found a better man. But then he considered that if Fourth Sister-in-law weren’t his Fourth Sister-in-law, they would have no relationship at all. So, he stopped thinking that way and instead thought it was truly fate that brought Fourth Sister-in-law to such an extraordinary person, making her completely unlike a rural woman.

“Fourth Brother, I was just asking Fourth Sister-in-law to teach me arithmetic. I’m grateful that she agreed. Naturally, I must show my respect.”

“Is that so? That arithmetic is indeed very useful. As long as you remember the numbers and the method, it’s very easy to learn.”

Shen Zi’an nodded. He knew his Fifth Brother was smart and eager to learn. He felt very pleased that he sought guidance from his wife. In truth, this was a source of pride for him. In Shen Zi’an’s heart, having a wife smarter than his Fifth Brother was a point of pride.

Su Zhi walked over to Shen Zi’an, raising her hand to remove the bamboo leaves from his hair. She said to him, “I left some water on the table. Go wash your hands and face. You must be tired, right? Take a good rest. There’s some mung bean soup in the kitchen. I added sugar to it, but it’s not too sweet. Shall I bring it out for you and Fifth Brother to drink together?”

Shen Zi’an nodded and said, “Alright, you go ahead. I’ll wash my hands and face. I am indeed thirsty.”

Su Zhi headed towards the kitchen.

“Fifth Brother, what brings you here today? Are you feeling well?”

Shen Zi’an rolled down his sleeves as he asked Shen Ziju. At this moment, Xiaori came over, dampened a cloth towel in the water, wrung it out, and handed it to Shen Zi’an. Shen Zi’an washed his hands, and then Xiaori gave him the cloth towel to wipe his face. Shen Zi’an patted Xiaori’s small shoulder in appreciation.

Shen Ziju said, “Thank you for your concern, Fourth Brother. I’m feeling well. With this hot weather, falling into the water wasn’t much of a problem. I realized it’s been a while since I visited you, so I thought I’d come by. We shouldn’t let distance grow between us brothers.”

Shen Ziju reflected on how gently Su Zhi had removed the bamboo leaf from Shen Zi’an’s hair, her tender questions, and how filial Xiaori was in handing the cloth towel to Shen Zi’an. Seeing Su Zhi come out of the kitchen with a tray, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy and admiration for his Fourth Brother. He thought how fortunate Shen Zi’an was to have married someone like Su Zhi, and even the children they took in were exceptional.

Shen Zi’an walked over, took the tray from Su Zhi, and brought it inside, placing the mung bean soup on the table. He turned to Shen Ziju and said, “Between brothers, unless something truly hurtful happens, there will never be distance between us. Don’t overthink it. That day, I saw how uncomfortable you were after coming out of the water. I thought you should rest a few more days and not miss out on your studies. You know Father is counting on you.”

Shen Zi’an invited Shen Ziju inside, motioning him to sit on the spring and autumn chair, and placed a bowl of mung bean soup in front of him.

“Drink up, your Fourth Sister-in-law made this mung bean soup. The weather has been too hot lately; this will help cool you down.”

Although it wasn’t yet the hottest days of the year, it already felt like it. The oppressive heat made everyone restless, and many people were saying this unusual weather was a sign of a drought to come. To protect her family’s health, Su Zhi had started making mung bean soup early, using water from the spiritual  spring. She didn’t want anyone falling ill in this weather.

The three children sat in a row on the other side, and Su Zhi served each of them a bowl, telling them to drink slowly.

Shen Ziju looked at the bowl in front of him. The adults were using large bowls, while the children had smaller ones. All were black pottery bowls with a few red plum blossoms painted on the edges, and the mung bean soup inside looked refreshing. He took a sip and felt a sweet, cooling sensation flow into his mouth, down his throat. After the first sip, he couldn’t help but want a second. Though he tried to drink slowly, he ended up drinking faster than usual. When the bowl was empty, he put it down, feeling refreshed all over.

“Fourth Sister-in-law cooks so well, everything she makes is delicious, even this mung bean soup.”

Shen Ziju genuinely praised her. He admired his Fourth Sister-in-law from the bottom of his heart, thinking that a woman like her was akin to the beauties described in his books.

It’s just a pity that this beauty is married, and moreover, she’s become his sister-in-law.